If you’re looking for tips from a woman with a history of GDM, watch NDEP’s new video “The Lasting Impact of Gestational Diabetes: Making Healthy Choices as a Family.” NDEP patient volunteer, Sandra Aguilar Scott, shares advice about preventing type 2 diabetes as a family.

Wondering how you can help spread the word?

• Click here for promotional resources to use in your community.
• “Like” the NDEP Facebook page and invite your Facebook friends to “Like” the page, too! You can also upload one of NDEP’s newly designed cover photos to your organization’s Facebook page.
• Follow NDEP on Twitter and use the hash tag gestational #diabetes.

Background

The Diabetes Community Action Coalition of Fulton County in Atlanta, Georgia hit the streets to promote and distribute NDEP’s messages to high-risk minority populations at worksites, free clinics, health fairs, senior centers, the YMCA, various meetings, and neighborhood events throughout the city of Atlanta. Formed in March 2011, the Coalition collaborates with over 90 member organizations in an effort to reduce the health and financial burden that diabetes is placing on the county.

Outreach and Promotions

The Coalition developed a diabetes awareness campaign using and adapting NDEP materials, including NDEP’s 4 Steps to Control Your Diabetes. For Life., Small Steps. Big Rewards. Your GAME PLAN to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes, and “Know Your Diabetes ABCs, Just Like You Know Your Other Numbers” print PSA, which was modified to include a smoke-free message.

Additionally, the Coalition collaborated with the United Methodist Men to bring the “Know Your Diabetes ABCs” message to African American residents of the Pittsburgh neighborhood at a Community Forum and Rally. The Pittsburgh community is the oldest and one of the poorest African American neighborhoods in Atlanta. Compared to the city of Atlanta where 24% of the households live below the poverty level, 40% of the households in this historic neighborhood live in poverty. During the rally, the Coalition engaged residents and distributed 100 bags filled with NDEP’s diabetes management materials and 25 bags filled with NDEP’s prevention materials. In addition to NDEP materials, the Atlanta Regional Health Guide: Resources for the Uninsured was shared to address the health disparities related to access to health care.

The Coalition continues to serve the Pittsburgh community through a partnership with the Center for Black Women’s Wellness through its Safety Net Clinic and Healthy Start program.

For more information, contact Vicki Karnes at vkarnes54@comcast.net.

The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan (NKFM) has been innovative in promoting NDEP offerings through traditional media, such as print media and radio, and nontraditional media such as Facebook and Twitter. Each month, the NKFM supports creative “themes” using resources and tools from NDEP to help raise awareness about diabetes management and prevention.

Outreach and Promotions

In October 2011, the NKFM focused its promotions on Family Health Month with family-oriented media outreach efforts. For example, the organization developed and distributed a press release that incorporated NDEP information to promote getting healthy as a family by eating healthy and exercising together. The theme was also promoted in NKFM’s monthly staff newsletter.

In November 2011, the NKFM used NDEP’s resources developed in support of National Diabetes Month. The organization distributed two press releases and several 10-, 15-, and 30-second public service announcements to communities with a high prevalence of diabetes. In addition, the NKFM promoted NDEP’s 4 Questions You Should Ask and More Than 50 Ways to Prevent Diabetes resources on Facebook and Twitter. Toward the end November, the organization continued to promote National Diabetes Month via social media with the theme “Eating Healthy at Thanksgiving Dinner” using NDEP’s resources on eating healthy at family gatherings and special events.

In January, the NKFM promoted the theme “Get Healthy and Control Your Diabetes in 2012.” The organization encouraged people with and at risk for type 2 diabetes to make a New Year’s resolution to get healthy. The NKFM also adapted NDEP messages to create a press release promoting diabetes-related programs, classes, and activities throughout Michigan. Social media outreach included sharing NDEP’s New Year’s Resolution Maker on Facebook and motivating people to use the tool to set a goal for the New Year.

Throughout February, the NKFM promoted African American History Month utilizing NDEP offerings targeted to African Americans. Press releases and social media outreach supported the message that African Americans are at higher risk for diabetes and offered links to the NDEP Facebook page and website.

Evaluation

Through evaluating outreach around these monthly promotional activities, the NKFM learned that the best way to communicate NDEP offerings is to distribute a wide variety of materials in a variety of media formats. The organization has been able to reach a large audience by using social media, print media, and word of mouth.

To learn more, contact Lindsay Bacon at lbacon@nkfm.org.

Understanding what can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes is an important first step. To find out if you are at risk, take the diabetes risk test at www.YourDiabetesInfo.org/alertday2012.

If you are at risk, studies have shown that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by losing a small amount of weight – 5 to 7 percent (10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person) – and becoming more active. Action steps include making healthy food choices and being active at least 30 minutes, five days a week.

To help you take these small, but important steps, the NDEP’s Just One Step interactive tool can guide you in taking small steps that can help you reach your health goal. The tool will help you think about:

• What step you will take to help you reach your goal (for example, walking more),
• When and how often you will do it (for example, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday during lunch), and
• How much/how long (for example, 15 minutes each time).

The key to reaching your health goal – and sticking with it – is to set a goal and make a step-by-step plan. Making changes in how you care for your health is a matter of trying and learning. It’s important to think about what is important to you and your health, and think about the kinds of changes that you are willing and able to make.

For more information about NDEP’s Just One Step tool, visit YourDiabetesInfo.org/JustOneStep. Check out NDEP’s Diabetes Alert Day page at YourDiabetesInfo.org/AlertDay2012 to learn how you can help spread the word in your community.

Background

With a doctor network of approximately 28,000 eye care professionals and 56 million members, VSP Vision Care (VSP) is in a position to make a significant and far reaching impact on a large number of Americans. As a not for profit company, VSP is committed to giving back to the community and believes in improving health and quality of life of millions of people. Making a positive impact on the diabetes epidemic is a top company priority.

Projects and Promotions

The VSP Eye on Diabetes campaign was designed to increase consumer awareness around the importance of comprehensive eye care in detecting and managing diabetes as well as support VSP network doctors with continuing education in providing this essential care. The campaign was launched in 2010 and has reached eight states throughout the country.

In partnership with the VSP Mobile Eyes Program, the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), State Optometric Associations, and local VSP network doctors, nearly 2,900 low-income, uninsured and underinsured people had access to free comprehensive eye exams, eyewear, and diabetes screenings. Of those, nearly 200 people were referred to their primary care physician for additional treatment. VSP also offers optometrists COPE-approved continuing education with two nationally recognized speakers who cover the PPOD disciplines along with other diabetes care guidelines.

VSP printed 4,200 copies of NDEP’s 4 Steps to Control Your Diabetes. For Life. booklet in English and Spanish to distribute at events in Lansing, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; and Los Angeles, California. The 4 Steps booklet is also available on the VSP website for doctors to print and give to patients and the organization will be making it available to members and benefit managers in the near future.

Additionally, VSP worked closely with NDEP to develop a single page patient educational flyer that includes an authorization for services for our members who have previously been identified as having diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, hypertension, or high cholesterol. Developed as an easy-to-use, ready-to-print handout, the flyer is a simple way for doctors to provide patients information about their disease and how to get additional materials and resources through NDEP.

In partnership with NDEP, a positive impact has been made on the diabetes epidemic through outreach programs, education, and marketing tools.

To learn more, contact Jessica Hein, Outreach Coordinator, at jesshe@vsp.com.

 NDEP’s new publication, Fotonovela: Do it for them! But also for yourself, helps Hispanic/Latina women at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and their families. The visually attractive and engaging story – told in both English and Spanish – uses role models to demonstrate how women can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes through increased physical activity, making healthy food choices, and weight loss. This format is especially effective for people with low literacy. You can use this fotonovela to:

• Encourage healthy behaviors.
• Teach steps toward positive choices.
• Support face-to-face education by lay-health workers.
• Reinforce clinical recommendations.
• Initiate discussion among a group or at meetings.
• Encourage self-identification of risk factors.
• Raise awareness.
• Support community education outreach.

Dr. Buse’s leadership role with the NDEP builds on notable accomplishments spanning more than 25 years. Currently a medical professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, he serves as the director of the Diabetes Care Center, chief of the Division of Endocrinology and executive associate dean for clinical research, and works within the leadership of the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, home of the UNC NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards. He has played key roles in numerous multicenter clinical trials, including two major NIH-sponsored trials: ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes), for which he serves as study vice-chair, and STOPP-T2D (Studies to Treat Or Prevent Pediatric Type 2 Diabetes). Buse served as 2008 president, medicine and science, of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), for which he has also chaired many committees and task forces.

Ms. Montalvo is an executive nurse leader with expertise in quality improvement, project implementation, strategic planning, community health collaboration, as well as health policy. Ms. Montalvo has been an active and engaged partner in NDEP activities for many years. Most recently she was the Clinical Director for the New York State Diabetes Campaign sponsored by NYSHealth Foundation where she expanded clinical and community partnerships, leveraged resources to support statewide diabetes training for clinicians and community members using NDEP’s Road to Health Toolkit, and implemented strategies to increase the number of clinicians with NCQA/BTE Diabetes Provider Recognition. Prior to joining NYSHealth, she was the Chief Clinical Program Officer at the Community Health Care Association of New York State. She is a recipient of the Healthy Youth for a Health Future Champion Award from the U.S. Surgeon General, the Quality Center of the Bureau of Primary Health Care Outstanding Achievement Award, and a RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow 2004–2007 as well as a National Advisory Committee member for Partners Investing in Nursing.

Dr. Buse and Ms. Montalvo succeed Martha (Marti) Funnell, M.S., R.N., and Jeffrey Caballero, M.P.H. — whose leadership and dedication has moved NDEP forward to advance its mission and strengthen partner engagement with the NDEP. The NDEP is extremely grateful to Ms. Funnell and Mr. Caballero for their years of support and look forward to their continued involvement with the NDEP in the years to come!

Background

When the Nevada State Health Division’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (NDPCP) set out to decrease the burden of diabetes in the Latino/Hispanic communities in the state’s southern region, the program focused on strategies to reduce the onset of diabetes and ways to improve self-care. In response to Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, which showed that the Latino population had the region’s lowest rates of self-care, NDPCP began to develop a program to provide free diabetes self-management education classes for Spanish-speaking residents who had diabetes, were at high risk for developing diabetes, or cared for someone with diabetes. Encouraging peer-to-peer education and inspiring behavior change in the community were key goals.

Outreach and Promotions

NDPCP examined a range of evidence-based tools and chose the U.S. Diabetes Conversation Map® program sponsored by Merck to begin building a program that teaches self-management skills to patient groups. However, the Conversation Map program only featured four sessions and focused primarily on the emotional aspects of diabetes control. The NDEP Road to Health Toolkit, available in English and Spanish, provided the perfect complement to the Conversation Map program. NDPCP incorporated components of the Road to Health Toolkit—including two 2-hour sessions on nutrition and physical activity—to create Road to a Healthier You, a comprehensive 6-week classroom-based prevention program for Spanish-speaking communities. NDPCP’s Road to a Healthier You program earned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011 Frankie Award for promotion of NDEP resources to address disparities.

Evaluation

Nearly 1 year into the project, Marjorie Franzen-Weiss, DPCP coordinator at the Nevada State Health Division, said, "The two programs are a natural fit…they complement each other very well."

Evaluation is being conducted at pre- and post-course and at 3- and 6-month intervals to determine changes in self-efficacy and health behavior. As of April 2011, preliminary findings indicated that:

• The majority of class participants (91%) were willing and able to start making changes in their daily lives to better manage their diabetes health.
• All of the participants who took both a pre- and post-test reported having set a goal or made a plan to start changing their daily lives to better manage their diabetes (health).

"This was our first year. We’re in the building phase, so we don’t have a lot of data yet." Franzen-Weiss added. "We are still trying to evaluate if the program is making a difference."

NDPCP praises the NDEP Road to Health Toolkit as "a wonderfully, culturally adapted piece" that has helped to magnify the reach and impact of the division’s limited budget. As the program has unfolded, the key lesson learned, according to Franzen-Weiss, is that "you don’t know what is going to work until you get started."

For more information about the Nevada State Health Division DPCP, contact Marjorie Franzen-Weiss, M.P.H., CHES, at maweiss@health.nv.gov.

During the interview, Dr. Rodgers provided the following advice:

• Take advantage of holiday gatherings to find out your family health history.
• Family history can’t be changed; but you can lower your risk for diabetes and other diseases by making a plan with your health care team to lose weight and be more active.
• During the holidays, carve out time to eat healthy and be active.
• At holiday events, focus on friends and family instead of the food.
• Saving up for a big meal may actually cause more harm than good.
• Watch your alcohol intake for hidden calories.

Listen to the interview

Background

Dr. Philip Rodgers, a clinical pharmacist at Duke University Hospital, has been promoting a health care team approach for diabetes management—which includes pharmacists—for a number of years.  As an NDEP partner, he has promoted the use of NDEP’s web site and products within his clinic, with his students, and with colleagues across the country. Dr. Rodgers was a member of the NDEP’s Pharmacy, Podiatry, Optometry, and Dentistry (PPOD) Work Group, which developed the booklet, Working Together to Manage Diabetes, a guide for pharmacists, podiatrists, optometrists, and dental professionals. Dr. Rodgers is currently working with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) to develop a Diabetes Training Certificate Program for pharmacists which will incorporate NDEP’s materials. He is a professional speaker on the diabetes management team approach and speaks to health care professionals across the country.

Projects and Promotions

At the clinic, Dr. Rodgers runs a Diabetes Management Program where he provides diabetes control counseling, uses NDEP resources to help patients gain a better understanding of their disease, and optimizes the use of diabetes medications with physicians.

Due to access to patients, pharmacists often play a vital role in catching foot, eye, or oral complications that may develop and can recommend patients seek out a specialist, like a podiatrist, optometrist, or dentist.  Dr. Rodgers is among a growing number of pharmacists who are using a collaborative approach with physicians and other health care providers to score the best outcomes for their patients.

As an NDEP partner, Dr. Rodgers is an advocate of the diabetes team care approach and frequently refers other health care professionals to NDEP’s website. Dr. Rodgers also promotes NDEP’s materials and website in the classroom. A clinical associate professor at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, he directs his students to the materials located on the site, including the publication Diabetes Medications Supplement. This handy NDEP reference is a real hit among medical students and practitioners alike because it provides a table of the many medications used to manage blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol and highlights the side effects and precautions of each.

Finally, Dr. Rodgers uses his professional affiliations to stress the importance of including pharmacists in diabetes management. He is often asked to speak at organizations across the country on the subject.  Hoping to see more pharmacists become involved in diabetes management and education, he joined an APhA committee tasked with revising its Diabetes Certificate Training. The program, scheduled to be available next year, will incorporate NDEP materials into the training.

For more information, contact Dr. Rodgers at Philip.Rodgers@duke.edu.